1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger having an inlet and outlet pipes for a heat exchanging medium flowing through the heat exchanger, and also to a method of making the heat exchanger which is composed of brazeable metal parts, in particular aluminum parts, and adapted for use as a condenser in car cooling systems or for use as an oil cooler or the like.
2. Description of Prior Art
Recently, aluminum heat exchangers of the so-called multi-flow type have been preferred as the condensers in the car cooling systems. This heat exchanger comprises a plurality of tubes each having both ends connected a pair of hollow headers in fluid communication therewith. Joint pipes are secured to the headers so as to provide an inlet passageway and an outlet passageway for the heat exchanging medium. In manufacture of such a heat exchanger, those parts are assembled and then subjected to the one-shot brazing process so that said parts become rigidly integral with one another.
There are some cases wherein the joint pipes must be long enough to extend to given positions, which positions may be determined taking into account a dimensional relationship between the heat exchanger and a space for receiving same, and/or taking into account the shape and/or length of pipings which extend from an automobile body.
When manufacturing the heat exchanger in those cases, its parts are combined at first with one another to form a preliminary assembly. An intermediate portion of each elongate joint pipe has to be set in place by means of a suitable tool or jig. The temporary assembly will then be one-shot brazed to rigidly fix the parts in place and integral with one another, before the assembling tool or jig is removed from the heat exchanger.
Subsequent to this process, each joint pipe or piping has been connected to the heat exchanger body 52 by means of a clamper 51 in a manner as shown in FIG. 29. This clamper protects the joint pipe from torsion, vibration or the like, and comprises a clamp base 53 and a band-shaped clamp finger 54. The clamp base 53 is secured to the heat exchanger body 52, with the clamp finger 54 having a curved portion 54a fittable on a piping. A bolt 56 fixes the clamp finger 54 to the clamp base 53 which cooperates with the clamp finger so as to surround the periphery of the joint pipe 55 and hold it in place.
According to the prior art method, the jig is attached to joint pipe 55, then the brazing of the parts is carried out, and subsequently the jig is detached from joint pipe before the clamper 51 is attached thereto. Those intricate steps have rendered inefficient the manufacture of heat exchangers. In addition, each clamper 51 composed of some parts such as the clamp base 53, the clamp finger 54 and the bolt 56 is complicated in structure and consequently somewhat expensive. Further, it requires much labor to attach the clamper to the heat exchanger.